Caroline Stephens Miles
Encouragement, passion, never give up
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Caroline Stephens Miles has dedicated her career to helping injured athletes. She is currently the head
athletic trainer for Madison County High School and has recently decided to pursue her education to
become a physician assistant.Miles has a love for sports and immediately felt drawn to the profession and how diverse each day would be for her. In 2014, she
transferred to the University of Georgia to pursue a degree in athletic training. She double majored in athletic training and exercise
and sports science. During her time at UGA, she completed rotations for the swim and dive, football and equestrian teams. After completing her undergraduate work at UGA, Miles accepted a graduate assistantship position at Florida State University and later
became the head athletic trainer for the swim and dive team while completing her master's degree.Despite her success, it didn't come without challenges. As a female working with male athletes and coaches, she had to be firm and
stand her ground. Athletes and coaches alike tried to intimidate her into complying with what benefitted them individually. She said it was important to remind them that she was advocating for their health and well-being and that, above all, she will always do right by them.
In her experience, she found that people struggle with chasing an opportunity due to fear of rejection, but her advice is to be
confident.
Miles finds that positive self-talk and listening to a song that hypes you up are great ways to make yourself feel good and increase confidence. In reflecting on challenges in her life, she found that even though she may not be the most intelligent person in the room
or have all the answers, she always owns her success and failures.
Miles said if she could go back and advise her 20-year-old self, she would tell herself to "keep pushing and challenge yourself. The only failure comes when you don't try, everything else is just a minor setback." Miles has done just that.
In her career as an athletic trainer, her desire to help people has only grown. Her passion is in helping the underprivileged, and she hopes to get into physician assistant school to help serve those who do not have access to quality healthcare. Despite how difficult the journey may be, her relentless determination to keep pushing and pursuing her dreams won't stop until she becomes the best physician assistant she knows she can be.